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Real average weekly earnings up 0.9 percent over year ending October 2019, 6.9 percent since 2009

November 20, 2019

Real average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased 1.2 percent from October 2018 to October 2019. The increase in real average hourly earnings and a 0.3-percent decrease in the average workweek resulted in a 0.9-percent increase in real average weekly earnings over the 12 months ending in October 2019.

Percent change in consumer prices and in earnings for employees on private nonfarm payrolls, October 2018 to October 2019
Measure All employees Production and nonsupervisory employees

Average hourly earnings

3.0% 3.5%

Average weekly earnings

2.7 3.2

Consumer Price Index[1]

1.8 1.6

Real average hourly earnings

1.2 1.9

Real average weekly earnings

0.9 1.6

[1] The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers is used to adjust earnings for inflation for all employees. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers is used to adjust earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees.

Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees increased 1.9 percent from October 2018 to October 2019. Real average weekly earnings for these workers rose 1.6 percent over the year.

From the beginning of 2009 to October 2019, real average hourly earnings for all employees rose 5.6 percent and real average weekly earnings rose 6.9 percent. For production and nonsupervisory employees, real average hourly earnings rose 6.1 percent and real average weekly earnings rose 7.3 percent during that period.

Indexes of real hourly and weekly earnings for employees on private nonfarm payrolls
Month All employees, average weekly earnings All employees, average hourly earnings Production and nonsupervisory employees, average weekly earnings Production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings

Jan 2009

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Feb 2009

99.7 99.7 100.2 99.9

Mar 2009

99.6 100.1 100.0 100.3

Apr 2009

99.6 100.2 99.9 100.2

May 2009

99.5 100.1 99.5 100.1

Jun 2009

98.6 99.4 98.6 99.2

Jul 2009

99.1 99.6 99.1 99.3

Aug 2009

98.9 99.5 99.1 99.4

Sep 2009

99.2 99.4 99.0 99.3

Oct 2009

98.8 99.3 98.6 99.2

Nov 2009

99.0 99.2 99.2 99.2

Dec 2009

98.9 99.2 99.2 99.2

Jan 2010

99.7 99.4 99.7 99.3

Feb 2010

99.1 99.6 99.3 99.7

Mar 2010

99.7 99.6 99.9 99.6

Apr 2010

100.1 99.7 100.4 99.8

May 2010

100.3 100.0 100.7 100.1

Jun 2010

100.4 100.0 100.6 100.2

Jul 2010

100.4 100.1 100.7 100.1

Aug 2010

100.7 100.1 101.2 100.3

Sep 2010

101.1 100.2 101.0 100.1

Oct 2010

101.0 100.1 101.4 100.2

Nov 2010

100.4 99.8 100.9 100.0

Dec 2010

100.5 99.5 100.5 99.6

Jan 2011

100.2 99.6 100.3 99.7

Feb 2011

100.3 99.4 100.2 99.3

Mar 2011

99.8 98.9 99.6 98.8

Apr 2011

99.8 98.6 99.6 98.4

May 2011

99.5 98.6 99.5 98.3

Jun 2011

99.6 98.7 99.6 98.4

Jul 2011

100.1 98.8 99.9 98.4

Aug 2011

99.3 98.4 99.0 98.1

Sep 2011

99.5 98.4 99.1 98.0

Oct 2011

99.9 98.7 99.7 98.2

Nov 2011

99.6 98.5 99.2 98.0

Dec 2011

99.7 98.5 99.5 98.1

Jan 2012

99.8 98.4 99.7 97.9

Feb 2012

99.8 98.4 99.1 97.6

Mar 2012

99.6 98.5 99.2 97.8

Apr 2012

99.9 98.5 99.2 97.8

May 2012

99.9 98.6 99.2 98.0

Jun 2012

100.2 99.0 99.8 98.3

Jul 2012

100.4 99.2 100.0 98.5

Aug 2012

99.8 98.6 99.0 97.9

Sep 2012

99.6 98.5 99.0 97.5

Oct 2012

99.3 98.1 98.4 97.2

Nov 2012

99.7 98.6 99.2 97.8

Dec 2012

100.5 98.9 99.8 98.1

Jan 2013

100.1 98.9 99.3 98.1

Feb 2013

99.9 98.5 99.5 97.8

Mar 2013

100.3 98.8 100.0 98.2

Apr 2013

100.5 99.3 100.1 98.7

May 2013

100.9 99.4 100.1 98.7

Jun 2013

100.9 99.4 100.2 98.7

Jul 2013

100.5 99.3 99.5 98.7

Aug 2013

100.8 99.2 99.7 98.5

Sep 2013

100.5 99.3 100.3 98.8

Oct 2013

100.6 99.4 100.0 98.9

Nov 2013

101.0 99.5 100.4 99.0

Dec 2013

100.5 99.3 100.0 98.8

Jan 2014

100.4 99.2 99.7 98.9

Feb 2014

100.5 99.5 99.8 99.2

Mar 2014

100.8 99.3 100.4 99.0

Apr 2014

100.8 99.2 100.4 98.9

May 2014

100.8 99.3 100.4 99.0

Jun 2014

100.8 99.3 100.4 98.9

Jul 2014

100.9 99.4 100.5 99.0

Aug 2014

101.5 99.7 100.9 99.3

Sep 2014

101.2 99.7 100.9 99.4

Oct 2014

101.6 99.8 101.2 99.7

Nov 2014

102.1 100.3 102.0 100.2

Dec 2014

102.4 100.6 102.3 100.4

Jan 2015

103.2 101.6 103.3 101.8

Feb 2015

103.5 101.6 103.2 101.7

Mar 2015

103.1 101.5 103.0 101.5

Apr 2015

103.2 101.6 102.8 101.6

May 2015

103.1 101.6 102.8 101.6

Jun 2015

102.9 101.4 102.8 101.3

Jul 2015

102.8 101.4 102.8 101.2

Aug 2015

103.5 101.6 103.1 101.6

Sep 2015

103.5 102.0 103.3 102.1

Oct 2015

104.0 102.2 104.0 102.5

Nov 2015

103.8 102.3 103.9 102.4

Dec 2015

104.0 102.4 104.5 102.7

Jan 2016

104.7 102.9 104.6 103.0

Feb 2016

104.4 103.1 104.8 103.6

Mar 2016

104.4 103.2 104.7 103.5

Apr 2016

104.4 103.1 104.6 103.4

May 2016

104.2 103.0 104.4 103.3

Jun 2016

104.2 103.0 104.3 103.1

Jul 2016

104.4 103.2 104.7 103.4

Aug 2016

104.1 103.1 104.6 103.4

Sep 2016

104.4 103.1 104.5 103.3

Oct 2016

104.5 103.2 104.6 103.4

Nov 2016

104.2 103.3 104.6 103.4

Dec 2016

104.2 103.0 104.1 103.1

Jan 2017

104.0 102.8 104.2 102.9

Feb 2017

104.0 103.1 104.3 103.1

Mar 2017

104.2 103.3 104.3 103.4

Apr 2017

104.7 103.4 105.0 103.5

May 2017

104.9 103.7 105.0 103.7

Jun 2017

105.0 103.8 105.5 103.9

Jul 2017

105.3 104.1 105.6 104.0

Aug 2017

105.0 103.8 105.0 103.7

Sep 2017

104.7 103.8 104.8 103.6

Oct 2017

104.8 103.5 105.1 103.5

Nov 2017

105.1 103.5 105.0 103.4

Dec 2017

105.2 103.7 105.3 103.5

Jan 2018

104.7 103.5 104.5 103.3

Feb 2018

105.0 103.5 105.1 103.3

Mar 2018

105.3 103.8 105.2 103.6

Apr 2018

105.3 103.8 105.6 103.7

May 2018

105.4 103.9 105.6 103.7

Jun 2018

105.4 103.9 105.6 103.7

Jul 2018

105.5 104.0 105.6 103.7

Aug 2018

105.8 104.2 105.9 104.0

Sep 2018

106.0 104.4 105.8 104.3

Oct 2018

105.9 104.3 105.7 104.0

Nov 2018

105.9 104.6 106.2 104.6

Dec 2018

106.6 105.0 106.8 105.2

Jan 2019

106.8 105.2 107.3 105.4

Feb 2019

106.7 105.4 106.7 105.4

Mar 2019

106.7 105.1 106.9 105.3

Apr 2019

106.2 104.9 106.4 105.2

May 2019

106.4 105.1 106.7 105.5

Jun 2019

106.7 105.4 106.9 105.7

Jul 2019

106.3 105.4 106.6 105.6

Aug 2019

107.0 105.8 107.3 106.1

Sep 2019[p]

107.1 105.8 107.6 106.3

Oct 2019[p]

106.9 105.6 107.3 106.1

[p] Preliminary

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary. To learn more, see "Real Earnings — October 2019." The Consumer Price Index is used to adjust earnings estimates for inflation.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Real average weekly earnings up 0.9 percent over year ending October 2019, 6.9 percent since 2009 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/real-average-weekly-earnings-up-0-9-percent-over-year-ending-october-2019-6-9-percent-since-2009.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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